photography comps are for organisers to cheap to hire a professional,
what they is get the rights to thousands of images for the price of a cheesy prize
to get into modeling send a portfolio to modeling agents
competitions are for people to cheap to hire a professional photographer - - what they do is get thousands of images for the price of a cheesy prize
in my opinion no amateur competitions are legit
your describing high key portraiture?
to achieve high key you need a large light source - - - so using off cameras flash, fire the flash through a difussion screen or a large soft box
goto youtube and look up - - - high key photography tutorial
depends on the light, there is no blanket jackson answer unless you can give us a light reading
at a geusss its low light right? so iso 400 or so, the fastest fstop you have and a shutter to suit, can you use flash?
1st thing you must do is change your attitude - or you will treat them as old and they wont appreciate that much - it will show in the images
go and study some two person portraits on say flickr, find some poses and offer them to the couple so they choose something they are comfortable with
you wont get far with your avatar or attitude - seek help its not to late
no body is against the constant usa invasions and killing than me - and i know who they do it for also - - - but your delivery isnt helping you one bit